Mattocks, Johnson sign with N.C. A&T to play football

Published: Thursday, February 7, 2013 at 11:00 AM.

McQueen rushed for 362 yards and 2 touchdowns out of Richlands’ option-oriented attack this past season while also catching 11 passes for 77 yards and 2 TDs.

The 17-year-old McQueen, who’s undecided on his major, said he considered other schools, but liked what he saw when he visited Catawba, which is about four hours away.

“I was considering places like Western Carolina and Northern Illinois, but they had coach changes so that kind put me back. Then I started talking with Catawba and visited them, and I started to like them a lot,” he said.

“I went visited the campus and I talked to all the players and the coaches and looked around and I just really liked the campus and everything and the people around it. And then I liked what they had to offer so I decided to go there.”

National signing day always includes its share of excitement and exaggeration, but Swansboro lineman Josh Mattocks may have taken hyperbole to another new level when asked how long he’s dreamed of playing college football.

“This was my goal since probably 1995 as of May 22 when I was born,” the 6-foot-4, 345-pound Mattocks said Wednesday after signing a national letter of intent with North Carolina A&T State. “That’s probably what I’ve looked forward to doing since then.”

Mattocks will be joined on the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference team this fall by another area player, Northside running back and safety Dewayne Johnson, whose dream of playing college football goes back a ways, just not as far as Mattocks.

Since he was 10 or 11, Johnson said he knew he liked football but was “too nervous” initially to try the sport, saying he wasn’t sure how good he’d be. To this day, he remembers his first time on the field.

“I caught an interception and didn’t know what to do with it and my friend told me to actually run towards the end zone and I just followed him and I scored,” Johnson recalled. “The following year it was like a new me once I touched the football field, like I automatically knew what to do with the football.”

Johnson and Mattocks were among at least four area players to sign Wednesday to play college football. The others were Jacksonville’s Devin Carlos, who’s headed to St. Augustine’s, and Ka’Darius McQueen of Richlands, who will play for Catawba.

Also, Northside’s Trey Eason is headed to East Carolina as, according to his father and coach, Bob, “a preferred walk-on.”

Swansboro OL/DL Josh Mattocks

Mattocks called his signing “breathtaking,” saying he gave his mom, Maggie, a big hug while signing his national letter of intent. He wasn’t sure how he managed to do both at the same time, but “we pulled it off. It looked good.”

Mattocks said he’s been told he’ll play on the offensive line for the Aggies, but he’s not sure if he’ll be at guard or tackle.

“That’s a good question. I do not know as of this moment,” Mattocks said, adding he’ll play wherever “they need me.”

Even before he was offered a scholarship by the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly NCAA 1-AA) program, Mattocks was likely headed to A&T.

“I knew if it came down to it and that if I didn’t have any scholarships, I would be going there for educational purposes and then (it) came out of the blue and they said, ‘We’d like to offer you a full ride,’ and I was like, “Hey, OK,’” he said.

The 17-year-old Mattocks said he planned on majoring in either computer science or computer technology.

“I’m super excited, ready to go up there to represent Swansboro and to put us on the map,” he said. “I’m so excited, so pumped.”

Northside RB/SS Dewayne Johnson

While he rushed for 1,661 yards — second-most in the area — and 18 touchdowns along with being named a first-team all-area running back by The Daily News, the 5-foot-10, 186-pound Johnson said he’s been penciled in to play strong safety at N.C. A&T.

Not that Johnson, who also started at strong safety for Northside, has given up his dream of on totting the football.

“I want to play running back, but safety, it’s all right with me because that’s like my second position. So I already know how to play it,” said Johnson, 18, who nonetheless held out hope of a position change possibly as soon as his second year at A&T.

Whatever happens, however, Johnson wasn’t really in the mood for shopping around to find a school where he could be in the backfield after he’d been offered a scholarship by A&T coach Rod Broadway, whose knowledge of his school’s academic majors impressed Johnson.

“I asked him if he had veterinarian classes, and he said yes,” Johnson said. “Everybody else that came said they don’t know or I have to check.”

Now that he’s signed with the Greensboro school, Johnson said he felt good.

“It’s kind of a shocker, though,” he added. “It feels just like my freshman year was last week and now I’m already going to college play college football. But it actually feels good. I’m actually pretty ready for it.”

Richlands RB Ka’Darius McQueen

While a multi-talented athlete on the football field as well as the basketball court, the 6-foot, 190-pound McQueen said he’s been told he’ll play running back at South Atlantic Conference Division II Catawba.

And he might get a shot at kickoff return as well.

“All I can say I’ll try my hardest to start,” he said. “But I do expect to play my first year.”

Just knowing he’ll get a chance to play college football, McQueen said shortly after signing, “makes me real happy.”

“I just can’t wait,” he added. “It’s a probably a dream I’ve had for a couple years now.”

McQueen rushed for 362 yards and 2 touchdowns out of Richlands’ option-oriented attack this past season while also catching 11 passes for 77 yards and 2 TDs.

The 17-year-old McQueen, who’s undecided on his major, said he considered other schools, but liked what he saw when he visited Catawba, which is about four hours away.

“I was considering places like Western Carolina and Northern Illinois, but they had coach changes so that kind put me back. Then I started talking with Catawba and visited them, and I started to like them a lot,” he said.

“I went visited the campus and I talked to all the players and the coaches and looked around and I just really liked the campus and everything and the people around it. And then I liked what they had to offer so I decided to go there.”

Jacksonville LB Devin Carlos

Carlos didn’t even play football his first two years at Jacksonville. And not only that, when St. Augustine’s coach came looking for players, he didn’t even know Carlos, a 6-1, 215-pound outside linebacker.

“He came to Jacksonville looking for players and when I met him he wasn’t there to recruit me,” Carlos said. “He didn’t even know about me. But after that he gave me a call and sounded really interested in me and said he liked the film and liked what he saw, and then they invited me for a visit.”

Carlos, 17, liked what he saw both athletically and academically. With a weighted 3.66 grade point average headed into his senior year, Carlos earned a full academic scholarship to the Raleigh school.

“It’s awesome,” said Carlos, who plans on majoring in either business, engineering or math.

Carlos, who expects to play outside linebacker in college, played soccer and baseball growing up before taking up football in Pop Warner and in middle school. He did not, however, play as a freshman or sophomore at JHS.

“But at the end of the my sophomore year the coaches … started talking to me and got me to play football,” he said. “From then on it’s been awesome. I never knew I’d enjoy it as much as I did.”